Elly sat on the couch in the corner, munching on his sandwich from his half-open plastic bag. He had been called to the office. So gooood! Suki, you should try this.

Perhaps when I have figured out which human form to take.

But still, nothing could ever compare to Sapphire’s sandwiches. Nothing.

The room was quiet. All the student council members were sitting at their respective positions around the long, rectangular table, staring at him. They all had silver armbands with an M. M for marquess. Some were bewildered, some were anxious and sweating. The prez had a large, separate desk across the room that was empty at the moment.

The double doors swung open, and the prez stepped through. She went and took her seat, back turned to the window.

“You’re all dismissed. I’d like to have a word with him in private. Lock the door. I don’t want to be disturbed.”

They all stood and bowed to her. “Madam!” Once they went out, the last member shut the door behind her.

The prez directed her serious eyes at Elly. “Come here.”

Elly was only half done with the sandwich. He made his way over and pulled up a seat to sit in front of her desk as she sat on the other side. He was close enough to share her foot space under the desk. His foot accidentally bumped hers

Her eyebrow twitched. “That’s too close. Back up.”

He slid his chair back by a few inches.

She stared at him for a good long while. Her gaze was sharp, venomous, and hard. If she had heat vision, she would’ve burned a solid hole in him by now.

The two of them sat in her silence for ages.

Elly munched away.

…

“Worm.”

“Prez?” Elly paused with a mouthful of his sandwich and looked at her, wondering what she had in store.

Her left foot was rapidly tapping the floor under the desk.

“Could you kindly not fight in the corridor?”

He finished chewing and swallowed. “But they started it.”

“Oh, really? I spoke to them, and they informed me that you were the one who started it.”

“No, they lied to you, obviously. The pompadour boy was going to kick me. So, he started it. What I did was self-defense.”

“You expect me to believe the words of the son of a lowly baron?”

He tilted his head. “...Yes?”

Her glare intensified. It was so intense that the air turned chilly despite the window being shut. Her eyes glistened red with magical energy. Her golden armband had a D for duke. That meant her father was a duke.

He swallowed again after his thorough chewing. “I like your eyes. They’re very pretty.”

The prez’s cheeks flushed, but she maintained the hardness of her glare. “I-I didn’t say you could... J-Just shut up!”

“Okay.” He took another bite.

She buckled under the power of his childish stare and looked away to one side of the room to collect herself while playing with her fingers on the desk.

“Can I go now? I have class in 5 minutes.”

“No, I’m not done with you.” She wouldn’t look at him. After some thought and a deep sigh while closing her eyes, she gained the strength she needed, turned her head, and locked eyes with him again.

“Alright. I don’t care who started what. I need you to behave yourself.”

Elly nodded.

“And if I have to walk or fly all the way across the school to punish you myself, you won’t like it. Although I have means for teleporting across the campus, they aren’t always reliable, and they cost precious mana.”

“Yeah, your office is pretty far.” His classrooms were in the B-wing. Her office was in the X-wing.

“And another thing.” The prez reached under her desk and picked up something then put it on her desk before them. His exam paper. “I’d like to know one thing.” She picked up a nearby marker and circled something before sliding the paper over to him.

Question 10 from the exam was circled with a black marker.

“How in the Pantheon’s name did you know I was wearing black panties that day?!”

“Oh, that? At first I thought about flicking your skirt up to take a good, long look to make sure, but that seemed impractical, since you had your guard up, so I just made an educated guess. You were wearing a lot of black, so I just figured your panties were black too.” He took another small bite from his sandwich.

Her eyes went wide. Her look was something of a deep embarrassment, an embarrassment she didn’t want the world to know about. She slowly reached forward with her hands over the desk, agitated but realized she couldn’t strangle him from this distance. He was too far away. She dropped her hands and stared down at the desk, still trying to process it. 

The prez put a hand to her forehead and shook her lowered head slowly. “I’ve never met such an honest pervert in my whole life,” she mumbled with a hint of amusement. She had the smallest smile and tried to hide it by frowning, but Elly knew what he saw.

“I mean… I just wanted full marks, really.”

She lifted her head curiously. “Is that so?”

“Yep. Can I ask, who wrote questions 3 and 10?”

“A subordinate of mine. I already gave him a month’s detention.”

A month’s detention for that? Elly shivered. Scary.

He took the last bite of his sandwich and put the plastic bag in his jacket pocket. When he looked back up at the prez, to his surprise, she was smiling at him freely like a normal, carefree girl.

She realized that she was smiling and that he caught her. That caused her to flush. She forced a glare to cover it all up but couldn’t quite get it to be as intimidating as it had initially been.

“What’s your name?” Elly asked.

She got up from her seat, putting her hands on her hips and looked down at him. “That’s not your place to know. You will call me Ms. President until I say otherwise. Do you understand, worm?”

Not even her last name? Jeez. That was harsh. Reluctantly, he nodded, frowning.

“You may go to class now, shoo!” She waved a hand dismissively and turned her back, facing the window, as if he were a pesky dog.

Elly rolled his eyes and headed out.

~~~

As the worm closed the door after he departed from the room, Clarissa sat in her chair and rested her arms on the armrests.

He was a peculiar boy. Powerful and smart, yet young and innocent. Or perhaps his innocence was an act. If it was an act, it was a well-performed one.

She twirled a finger in a few strands of her hair as she thought back to his exam results. Although he had scored a 9 out of 10 on the written portion, the only incorrect question being question 3, she had decided to exclude question 3 to ensure fairness. Therefore, she had given him a 9 out of 9. A perfect score. However, really, question 10 that had pertained to her underwear shouldn’t have been on the sheet either. But discarding that question wouldn’t have made a difference in his mark. His 9 out 9 would’ve become an 8 out of 8. There would’ve been no difference in percentage, so she had left it to save herself from any additional work.

And realistically, he shouldn’t have gotten question 10 correctly. It had been sheer brilliance. Every first-year that day who had taken the exam had gotten questions 3 and 10 incorrect as any normal student would’ve: very few people at the school had knowledge of middle name, and sharing the color of her undergarments would be nothing less than lecherous absurdity.

Part 2 of the exam had been equally shocking. He had sat down for 50 minutes, enjoying a juicebox, then he got up and annihilated the hydra with ease. That was no small feat. He hadn’t even used a wand or a staff. His casting time had been incredibly short, and he hadn’t said any incantations. Clarissa’s specialization wasn’t in fire magic, so she didn’t know which spell he had cast. But it had obviously been a highly advanced spell. Anyone with a brain would know that. I even had to close my eyes so they wouldn’t hurt from the brightness. And on top of that, it had been an archaic spell.

And earlier today, he had withstood a third-year’s powerful spell. Not just any spell. A blackhole. But how had that worm countered it so easily? That’s what the witnesses said anyway…

It was difficult to picture. For a boy who had no specializations, he appeared to be extremely adept.

He was no ordinary wizard. She had to wonder if he could use Arts as well. I doubt it. Teachers didn’t begin teaching that to students until 5th year, and even then, they were difficult to master. She herself had her struggles with them.

And truth be told, she had a hard rule against the consumption of any food in her office, but she had allowed him to eat his sandwich. Just this once. She couldn't have admonished him for the infraction; his countenance hadn’t allowed it. She thought back to when she had smiled. His face had somehow mentally disarmed her. Whenever she looked at it, she found it hard to hold on to her resolve and sternness. His endearing gaze could melt it all away if she wasn’t careful. His earrings only magnified his charm.

Clarissa tried to compare his skill level to any of the elite students from the V-wing. She couldn’t do that either. It was too early to accurately measure his abilities.

She decided to dismiss the matter from her head for now.

It was time for tea and biscuits. And then she had class in the afternoon.